Central and Southern Pacific Are Hot, Hot, Hot

The weather has been beautiful up and down the Pacific coast, with warm sunny days and very little rain. The Caribbean side and interior of Costa Rica have had a mix of nice days and cool days with rain. The good news is the weather and the fishing will only get better over the next few months.

The fishing on the northern Pacific coast has been hit or miss, but everyone up there expects the bite to get hot any day. The central and southern Pacific fishing has been incredible, with lots of marlin, sailfish and mahimahi being caught. Tarpon and snook are still being caught on the Caribbean side.

Northern Pacific

The Miller family from Baton Rogue, Louisiana, caught a 300-pound black marlin, went one for two on sailfish, and caught three mahimahi and three yellowfin tuna when they went offshore fishing with Capt. Skeet Warren on the Bushwacker. Warren said it was a bit windy and choppy but worth the effort.

Capt. Lee Keidel of Kingpin Sportfishing reports the fishing has been hit or miss in the Tamarindo area. Rhett Campbell from Houston, Texas, fished a day offshore recently and was rewarded with a 350- pound-plus blue marlin. The Goetz family from the U.S. state of Wyoming went out a few days earlier and caught five mahimahi and five yellowfin tuna.

Mark and Jennifer Suttles from the U.S. state of Colorado fished on the Salsa with Tamarindo Sportfishing and caught a sailfish, a blue marlin, some mahimahi and grouper.

I fished last week on the Fish Whistle with some friends from Jacó. Capt. Brandon Keene is one of the best bottom fishermen in the marina, and he proved it by putting me over a monster 90-pound-plus broomtail grouper. I caught a big blue runner, bridled it up with a circle hook and dropped it down to a rock in 160 feet of water. On the second pass by the rock, I felt a pull and dropped the bait back for a couple of seconds, pushed the brake up and the battle was on. I was lucky enough to get the fish out of the rocks and to the boat.

I also went offshore with some family friends and Capt. Jeremy Trujillo on the Desperado, and we ended the day with 10 mahimahi and six yellowfin tuna (on topwater lures) in the 50-pound range. I went two for two on mahimahi with my hand line. I also had a sailfish hit my hand line but didn t take the bait I m still a little scared of catching sailfish by hand.

Angler Mike Lovelace did a father-son fishing trip recently and the timing couldn t have been better. In three days of fishing with Capt. Dave Mothershead on the Miss Behavin and Capt. Dana Thomas on the Hoo s Your Daddy, dad and son caught seven marlin, more than a dozen sailfish and more than a dozen mahimahi.

Capt. RJ Lillie on the Predator took a couple of guys out for a half-day trip around the full moon and raised two nice marlin and released one. The group also caught a couple of nice mahimahi.

A corporate group of 15 guys from Atlanta, Georgia, fished offshore and had some great luck. Capt. Bill Kieldsen went seven for 10 on sailfish, with a few mahimahi; Capt. Keene on the Fish Whistle caught three sailfish, three mahimahi and a nice blue marlin; Capt. Mothershead on the Miss Behavin caught a couple of sailfish, three mahimahi and a blue marlin; and Capt. Trujillo on the R&J caught three sailfish and a few mahimahi.

Capt. Jorge Fernández on the J-Barrilete took Tony Sevicar and his girlfriend out for their first trip offshore fishing, and they had some great beginner s luck, catching two sailfish, a few mahimahi, a 250-pound blue marlin and a 350-pound black marlin.

Gris Knight and friends went out with Greg Giampapa on the Barnacle II for a day offshore and ended the day with three sailfish, two mahimahi and a nice striped marlin.

Capt. Chris Bernstel on the Kinembe II reports some really good fishing in the Quepos area. He s been getting some marlin as well as plenty of sailfish, and says some really big tuna have been caught over the last week or so. The inshore fishing for roosterfish has been good, as has the bottom fishing for snapper and grouper.

Four marlin in five days of fishing it s the best marlin fishing I have seen in 10 years is the report from Capt. Dave Dobbins of Quepos Blue Water Sportfishing Charters. Dobbins also took U.S. angler Michael Ross out and caught two sailfish and five mahimahi, all on the fly rod.

The guys on the Reel Deal out of Quepos have been running 30 miles offshore and caught three marlin, five sailfish and five mahimahi in two days.

Kelly and Monique Wren had all 46 feet of the Caribsea to themselves recently. They saw lots of action, with eight sail releases and a 30-pound mahimahi for dinner, reports Dennis Arnold.

Southern Pacific

Todd Staley of Crocodile Bay reports that the mahimahi are like rats down there, and can be found around current lines and just about anything that floats. Most are running about 20 pounds, but some have tipped the scale at 50. The sails haven t yet moved in in big numbers, but they have had a couple of double-digit days. Folks from Pure Fishing, Pradco and Pursuit boats have already visited CrocodileBay and left with some new fish stories.

The guys from Sportfishing Golfito report the season has started off very well offshore and inshore. They have been averaging three to six sailfish and one marlin shot per day. The mahimahi and tuna have also been around, with a 160-pound-plus yellowfin tuna caught recently. The bottom fishing has been good for snapper, and the roosterfish bite has been hot and cold.

Donald Grimes fished with Capt. Bobby McGuinness in Golfito and caught roosterfish, sailfish, snapper, mackerel, jack, mahimahi and more. After releasing seven sailfish on their best day, Grimes said, Costa Rica is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, and the best fishing I have ever experienced. This was truly the trip of a lifetime.

Capt. Mark Corn from the Osa Yacht Club reports some great fishing down south. He says there is more bait in the water than he has seen in 10 years, and they ve been catching some big mahimahi and tuna, good numbers of sailfish and some big blue marlin. Inshore, they ve been doing well with the snapper, roosterfish and amberjack.

Capt. Bob Baker of Golfito Sportfishing reports the yellowfin tuna have moved inshore with the high moon tides lots of fish, from footballs to hogs over 200 pounds. He says lots of marlin are chasing the small tuna, and some nice mahimahi are out there as well. The sailfish are starting to show, and they are averaging four releases per day.

Caribbean Region

Capt. Eddie Brown on the Bullshark reports some dirty water coming from the Río Colorado because of landslides caused by the Jan. 8 earthquake centered in the Central Valley. He also reports the ocean has been a little rough, making it difficult to get outside the breakers to fish for tarpon. They are still catching some good tarpon at night on the inside, as well as some big snook near the river mouths.

Diann Sánchez of Río Colorado Lodge reports that the lodge was not affected by the quake. She says the weather has been mostly overcast, with some rain and cool nights. Robert and John Bryant of the U.S. state of Florida jumped 18 tarpon and boated three, one about 160 pounds and another about 120.n